County COVID-19 rate at lowest since June

by Wayne Hardy and Stephanie Hill

As rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine continues in Georgia, White County’s average case count has dropped to its lowest since summer.

The seven-day moving average for new confirmed cases was at 0.7 per day in a March 9 status report from the Georgia Department of Public Health. That’s the fewest since the county was at the same figure June 19 and half of another notable decline to 1.4 on Oct. 27. (Both of these periods, however, preceded spikes in cases as summer and winter holiday travel ramped up.)

The county has had nine confirmed cases reported for the month through March 9. DPH data lists 190 cases for all of February, which was a significant drop from 659 in January and 688 in December.

White County Emergency Management Agency considered 1,997 of 2,870 DPH confirmed cases as recovered since the start of the pandemic. The agency’s update considers a case to be a recovery 21 days after the case report is provided to the county.

District 2 Public Health announced Monday that more COVID-19 vaccine appointments are available at its 13 county health departments, which includes White County.

“Recent shipments have given us enough vaccine to open up more appointments for residents,” said Alan Satterfield, director of nursing. “We hope that residents who are eligible to be vaccinated will take this opportunity to make an appointment.”

Eligible residents can make appointments by calling 1-888-426-5073, visiting phdistrict2.org or by calling the White County Health Department at 706-865-2191.

The White County School System planned to host vaccinations at the middle school on Thursday, March 11, for teachers and staff. School nurses approved to administer the vaccine will be helping.

“It feels like a very big day for our school system and our community,” says School Superintendent Dr. Laurie Burkett. “Almost a year ago we were trying to figure out how to learn from home, and now it feels like we are working to get to the other side of this global pandemic.”

The White County School System’s March 10 snapshot report said there were currently two students who had reported positive for COVID-19 and 12 students quarantined for possible exposure at that time. The total student enrollment is 3,724. There were no reports of any of the system’s 549 staff members currently with a positive COVID-19 test or quarantined for possible exposure.

Under state rules, those currently eligible for the vaccine include healthcare personnel, such as those at hospitals and health clinics, residents and staff of long-term care facilities (such as nursing homes), adults ages 65 and older, law enforcement officers and firefighters; As of March 8, educators and staff (working in pre-k, k-12, DECAL licensed or exempt childcare programs), adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers, as well as parents of children with complex medical conditions.

Checking on vaccine availability

Providers advise checking for appointments. Information on providers throughout the state is available at dph.georgia.gov.

White County Health Department and  District 2 Public Health

Eligible residents can make appointments by calling 1-888-426-5073, visiting www.phdistrict2.org or by calling the White County Health Department at 706-865-2191.

MedLink Georgia – White County

Call 706-521-3113.

Cleveland Drug Company

Call 706-219-2626.

Ingles Pharmacy

Availability is posted at www.ingles-markets.com/pharmacy/pg1/pharmacy-sub/vaccinations

Northeast Georgia Health System / Northeast Georgia Physicians Group

Visit www.nghs.com/covid-19/vaccine-updates or call 678-989-5005 with vaccine questions.

Habersham Medical Center

Call 1-855-990-HELP (4357) and select Option 2.

GEMA/HS Mass Vaccination Site – Clarkesville

Register online at MyVaccineGeorgia.com. Vaccines are administered by appointment only at the Habersham County Fairgrounds (4235 Toccoa Highway) in Clarkesville.